Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within Manitoba. Residents thus travel southwest into Saskatchewan, and northeast into Manitoba. The city is incorporated in, and is jointly administered by both provinces.
Etymology
thumb|left|175px|The town is named after the fictional character Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin.
The town's name is taken from the lead character in a 1905 paperback novel, The Sunless City by British author J. E. Preston Muddock:
In the novel, Flonatin pilots a submarine into a bottomless lake where he sails through a hole lined with gold to enter a strange underground world. He finds a strange city ruled by women in which the local currency is tin and the streets are paved with gold. He ultimately re-emerges via a deep crater.
A copy of Muddock's 1905 book was allegedly found and read by prospector Tom Creighton. When Creighton discovered a high-grade exposure of copper, he thought of the book and referred to it as "Flin Flon's hole". The town that developed around the mine then adopted the name. Flin Flon shares the distinction of being named after a character in an adventure novel with Tarzana, California, and Le Plessis-Robinson, France.
The character of "Flinty", as he is locally known, is of such importance to the identity of the city that in 2003, the local Chamber of Commerce commissioned the minting of a $3.00 coin which was considered legal tender amongst locally participating retailers until September 2004 and a $5.00 coin which was in circulation until December 31, 2008. A statue representing Flinty was designed by cartoonist Al Capp and is one of the points of interest of the city. In 1978, the National Film Board of Canada produced the short documentary Canada Vignettes: Flin Flon about the origin of the city's name.
History
Flin Flon was founded in 1927 by Hudbay (at that time called Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co.) to exploit the large local copper and zinc ore resources. In the late 1920s, HBM&S invested in a railway, mine, smelter, and a hydroelectric power plant at Island Falls, Saskatchewan. By 1928, the rail line reached the mine.
The town grew considerably during the 1930s as those impoverished by the Great Depression came to work at the mines. A significant number of farmers abandoned their farms and were among those looking for work. The municipality was incorporated on January 1, 1933, and reached city status in 1970. The city continued to be a mining centre with the development of several mines adding to its industrial base, although its population has been in decline since the 1960s. The last Flin Flon area mine, 777, was closed and decommissioned in 2022 along with the majority of the Hudbay Flin Flon operations, with many workers moving to the Lalor Mine in Snow Lake, MB.
With a scenic setting and a number of nearby lakes, Flin Flon is a popular tourist destination.
In May 2025, Flin Flon was precautionarily evacuated due to the 2025 Canadian wildfires.
Geography
thumb|left|upright=1|Flin Flon in the fall
thumb|right|upright=1|Lake Athapapuskow, near Bakers Narrows Provincial Park and the airport; the photo was taken in late May, demonstrating that snow is possible (though unusual) even that late in the year.
Flin Flon straddles the provincial boundary of Manitoba and Saskatchewan with the majority of the city located in Manitoba. The 2016 census reported 4,982 residents in the Manitoba portion and 203 in the Saskatchewan section; the Manitoba portion has a land area of , while the Saskatchewan portion has a land area of . Due to the zig-zag nature of the Saskatchewan-Manitoba boundary correction lines, the Saskatchewan section of town lies south of the Manitoba section, not west.
Main Street crosses the provincial boundary just south of its intersection with Church Street; Hudson Street crosses the provincial boundary between its intersections with 5 Ave E. and Harrison Street, adopting the new name South Hudson Street at the point of crossing; an undeveloped stretch of Channing Drive briefly crosses into Saskatchewan before reentering Manitoba just west of the city's rural Channing neighbourhood.
For Canada Post purposes, residents in the Saskatchewan portion of the city retain the local Manitoba R8A postal code, and often use a Flin Flon, MB address. For telephone service, however, they are located in Saskatchewan's area code 306 as part of the Creighton telephone exchange, rather than Manitoba's area code 204. However, residents in Saskatchewan may use either Saskatchewan's SaskTel or Manitoba's Bell MTS systems for cellular services. and other stations in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. temperature ever recorded in Flin Flon was on July 19, 1941.
|date=August 2010